Lucia Asks About the Photograph
Chapter 18 - Lucia Asks About the Photograph
When Lucia was eight, she found the ultrasound photograph inside a family album.
“Is this me?”
“Yes,” Elena said.
“Why does it have Dad’s name?”
“Because he was your father before you were born.”
Lucia looked confused.
“Wasn’t he still missing?”
“Yes.”
Elena explained that powerful adults had tried to remove records connecting Noah to their family.
She did not describe every frightening detail.
Lucia asked why Elena wore a maid’s uniform in the old news photograph.
“I worked inside the house because the people there would not answer me as Noah’s wife.”
“Were you really a maid?”
“I worked as one. No honest job makes a person less important.”
Lucia considered that.
“Did Grandma Victoria throw breakfast at you?”
“She used a bowl to frighten and humiliate me.”
“Do I have to meet her?”
“No.”
The answer came without hesitation.
May you like
Lucia returned the photograph to the album.
It remained evidence of her existence before birth, but not a contract defining her future.
